Gov. Hickenlooper signs open records bill

Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed into law a bill to limit excessive fees charged by state and local governments for records requests.

House bill 1193, sponsored by Sen. John Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, and Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, limits the hourly fee for research and record retrieval under the Colorado Open Records Act to a maximum of $30. The bill also requires the first hour of fulfilling a records request to be free.

The records act is the state law that makes most state government records available to the public. The measure follows an investigation by Denver channel 7NEWS into excessive fees charged by local governments for public records.

The bill also requires governments to post policies and fee rates online.

The measure has a “minimal” financial impact on state revenue and spending, according to bill’s fiscal note.